Category: theatre

“We’ve been building momentum over years, with the movie and with smaller productions. It’s like a band that toured for fourteen years. Slowly the rock kids who didn’t like theater found it and the theater people who didn’t like rock found it and then a core grew. … Our opening night sold out in like an hour – we were a hit before we opened, just based on the core audience.”

“The Clothworkers’ Company is one of London’s younger livery companies, being less than 600 years old, and created to secure the welfare of the cloth industry. The company created its charitable foundation in 1977 and since then it has given away more than £100m … Theatre has never appeared in its portfolio before.”

“One of the errors that verbatim theatre often makes is to conclude that because something is true, it is more interesting. Or rather, more interesting than something that has been made up. … Why should that give it any more currency than a story that has been entirely made up and yet feels as if it’s real – or more real than real?”

“The idea of sticking a theater inside a church or synagogue offers benefits for both sides. Impecunious theaters get cheap space (often in prime locations) and can avoid a whole variety of licensing and other costs by producing within the footprint of a church. Many churches have more space than they need … and arts groups bring in people who might just end up going to services.”

“Students work through five levels over roughly five years before gaining a shot at joining the Sunday company, which itself is a steppingstone to being a Groundling. Only the best are voted in. Though close to 1,000 students are enrolled in the program, there are only 30 Groundlings at any one time — and they write and perform without pay while collectively serving as the company’s artistic director.”

“Nobody intends to drive audiences away, and one of the problems with theatre is that while nobody sets out to make work that is just so-so, an awful lot of that which ends up on our stages is exactly that.”

“The greatest challenge in expanding the size of the Tonys Nom-Com is probably finding people who are able and willing to see all of the eligible shows, as the position demands.”

“The code of ethics will develop industry-wide standards to tackle perceived issues within what [Equity member Lubna] Kerr described as a ‘degrading casting process’, such as lack of communication and feedback, as well as bad treatment and last-minute changes.”

“Tax breaks for the theatre industry to be introduced this autumn could bring in £100 million for commercial theatre and £20 million for touring productions in coming years, Arts Council England’s chair Peter Bazalgette has said.”

“Heading into the final weekend of the 2013-14 calendar of show openings, Broadway musicals and plays are on track to set a record total gross of $1.27 billion for the season, an increase of 11 percent, the biggest bump since the 2008 recession.”